In New Eastern Europe, Ivan Pepic writes that the phenomenon of “intra-ethnic outbidding” has undermined inter-ethnic negotiations in BiH. According to Pepic, intra-ethnic outbidding “occurs when each party within an ethnic group attempts to convince voters that it has greater concern for group interests than its intra-ethnic rivals.” Pepic argues that “the various ethnic groups should reach internal agreement before entering into inter-ethnic negotiations” and that “negotiations in deeply divided societies are only successful when they involve a limited number of actors.” Pepic observes that while BiH leaders in the 2008 Prud negotiations were “able to agree on several steps forward,” “other key decisions were not made and this was mainly due to High Representative Valentin Inzko’s decision to expand the number of participants following pressure from the opposition.”
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